Court cases requiring legal aid will be finalised more efficiently and effectively with the NSW Government investing an additional $88 million in Legal Aid NSW, driving a fairer and more efficient justice system.
\nAttorney General Mark Speakman said the new funding would reform the way private lawyers provide legal representation to economically disadvantaged people.
\n\u201cLegal Aid NSW relies on private lawyers in almost 70 per cent of all cases run using legal aid funding. In regional areas that number rises to 80 per cent,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
\n\u201cThis injection of funding will enable greater access to legal representation for disadvantaged people and help create a more sustainable system for small country law firms supporting communities through the worst drought in a century.\u201d
\nThe reforms will allow the Legal Aid NSW Board to increase lawyers\u2019 hourly rates progressively to levels comparable with other states and territories. Solicitors\u2019 hourly rates will rise progressively from the current $150 to $195 in 2023-24, with barristers\u2019 fees also increasing over the same period.
\nThis overhaul of private practioners\u2019 fees in legal aid matters will encourage more lawyers across NSW to offer their valuable services to Legal Aid. In addition, structural changes introduced progressively for pre-hearing work will allow lawyers to spend more time with their clients and preparing for cases, as well as promoting the timely finalisation of criminal matters.
\nThese reforms build on the NSW Government\u2019s record investments into the legal assistance sector, with the State already providing $224 million in funding to Legal Aid NSW in 2019-20, more than doubling its funding compared with 2010-11.
\nChief Executive Officer of Legal Aid NSW Brendan Thomas thanked the NSW Government for its robust response to the recommendations of Legal Aid\u2019s business case.
\n\u201cLegal Aid plays a crucial role in creating a fair and accessible justice system for every member of the NSW community \u2013 from the Downing Centre to Dubbo and beyond,\u201d Mr Thomas said.
\n\u201cWe are delighted that the NSW Government has made such a significant commitment to Legal Aid, enabling us to build greater partnerships with the private profession and ensuring our clients get the best legal service possible.\u201d
\nStructural reforms will commence from 1 January 2020 and private lawyers\u2019 fees will increase from 1 July 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Court cases requiring legal aid will be finalised more efficiently and effectively with the NSW Government investing an additional $88 million in Legal Aid NSW, driving a fairer and more efficient justice system. Attorney General Mark Speakman said the new funding would reform the way private lawyers provide legal representation to economically disadvantaged people. \u201cLegal … Continue reading “$88 MILLION BOOST FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}